Motorola H3 Bluetooth Headset review
Sleek looks and good functionality
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The Motorola H3
Bluetooth headset copies some of the design elements of
their very successful V3 RAZR phone, but will work with most
Bluetooth enabled phones, as well as the RAZR.
This is an appealing
headset, but suffers from one fatal flaw.
Part
of our series on Bluetooth - more articles listed on
the right.
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Motorola is one of the leading
names in cell phone electronics, but its H3 Bluetooth headset -
while promising much - delivers little.
Surely the most important
feature of a headset - wired or Bluetooth - is good quality
sound. This unit fails to provide good quality sound.
Cheaper units such as the Jabra
BT125 provide better sound quality and similar other
functionality and so would be a better choice for you.
What you Get
The Motorola H3 Razr
Bluetooth Headset comes in a large clear plastic display case.
Inside the case is the
headset itself, a charger, a quick start guide and a warranty
booklet. There was no manual at all.
The small sized warranty
booklet is 88 pages in length. 26 of the pages are an
English version of the legalese and disclaimers, which is then
repeated in French and Spanish.
Feature Chart
Use this information to
quickly understand the capabilities of the unit and to compare
with other units.
Feature Comment |
Cost |
Recommended
US retail $59.99, and Motorola have a 'buy one,
get the second at half price' deal on their
website (ie $90 for two, or $45 each when buying
two at the same time).
Available at
Amazon for about $30, and available
elsewhere online too. |
Ergonomics |
Easy to put
on and take off |
Yes, could
be easily/quickly done with one hand.
It was, of course,
easy to take off. |
Easy to use
the control buttons |
There are
three buttons on the unit. There are two
small buttons for volume up and volume down, and
a larger button opposite the earpiece.
The layout is such that it is easy to reach and
press these buttons. |
Comfortable
to wear |
This is
not quite as comfortable as the Jabra BT125, and flops
a bit on the ear when one turns one's head from
side to side.
It seems to be securely on one's head,
however, and has never fallen off. |
Can you use
with glasses |
Yes. |
Can use with
either ear |
Yes.
And the two volume buttons can be reconfigured
so the one on top means 'louder' and the one on
the bottom means 'quieter' no matter which side
(and therefore, which way up) you wear the
phone. |
Securely
mounted on ear |
It seems to
be secure inasmuch as it doesn't fall off, but
it can move around a bit and feels a bit floppy.
On the other hand, this loose fit also makes it
unobtrusive and comfortable to wear. |
How to carry |
There's no
obvious way of carrying this, no protective
carry pouch, and no lanyard loop.
I guess you
just chuck it in your pocket?
Compatible with Nectar
retractable and
necklace style headset holders. |
Weight |
At 0.6
oz it is reasonably light but not as light as
the Jabra BT125's 0.4 oz. |
Ease of Use |
Commands
intuitive and easy to remember |
Another unit
that requires you to memorize things like short
and long button pushes and to understand the
meaning of different tones and light flash
combinations.
When will
the headset industry finally get the simple
truth that we want simple easy to use units, not
stupidly hard to use ones? We're many
years into Bluetooth headset technology now and
the user/command interface remains one of the
Achilles Heel's of all BT headsets. Wake
up, manufacturers and designers! |
Volume
adjustable |
Yes, with
two buttons, one to increase and the other to
decrease volume. |
How fast
does it turn on |
Quite quick. It takes
about six seconds to turn on and synch up with
a Blackberry, but closer to ten seconds to synch
with a Motorola Razr phone. |
Manual |
Helpful and in good English. |
Support |
Via
Motorola's
website
and (800) number (7 days/83 hrs a week). |
Pairing
password printed on device |
No (it is
0000 so in an emergency you have a good chance
of guessing what it is!) |
Features |
Battery life |
Up to 10
hours of talk or 200 hours of standby time
claimed by Motorola, Amazon says 8 hours or 150
hours. Either
is better than average compared to other units
on sale in October 2006. |
Low battery
indicator/signal |
The unit
beeps five times every minute to indicate
the battery is almost discharged.
Only the person wearing the headset hears the
beeping, not the person you're speaking to. |
Battery type |
Not
disclosed |
Replaceable
battery? |
No.
As with other headsets, the chances are by the time the battery has died,
you'll probably have bought a new headset. |
Battery
charging method/time |
The battery
charging issue was the reason that encouraged me
to buy this headset.
It uses exactly the same power supply as does a
Razr or Blackberry phone, and so I can use the
same charger for both phone and headset.
It also can be charged through a USB cable from
a computer (with a mini-USB connector at the
headset end) making it as convenient as possible
to charge.
Charging time is about 2 hours. A blue
light goes on while charging, and off when
charged. |
Multi-voltage charger |
Yes. |
Charger
weight/size |
A small
brick sized wall charger ending in a standard
mini USB plug to go into the unit.
Weighs about
2.3 oz. |
Other
charging methods |
You can use
a car adapter, any USB cable with a mini USB
connector to plug into the headset, or one of our
emergency rechargers (with the
extra Razr/Blackberry USB adapter). |
How many
pairings can be stored |
Unknown. |
Headset and
hands-free profiles? |
Both
profiles are supported. |
Audio
profile for computers |
Apparently
not. |
Bluetooth
compatibility |
Version 1.2 |
Power/range |
The Motorola
website claims it to be a Class 2 device with a 30'
range. But it
is Class 3 devices that have this range (Class 2
are more powerful with longer range, and
headsets neither need the extra range nor can
provide the extra power), and that is probably
what it truly is. |
Effective
range |
Range is
similar to other Bluetooth headsets and is
perfectly satisfactory for normal use, where the
phone and headset are reasonably close to each
other. |
Warranty |
The warranty
is either 90 days (if it is considered as a two
way radio accessory) or one year (if considered
as most other things). |
Free return |
Retailer
policies will vary. |
Noise
cancelling/DSP |
This was not
tested because we viewed the unit as failing the
basic simple sound quality test (see below). |
Sound
quality |
Sound
quality was surprisingly and dismayingly poor.
So as to give the unit every possible chance to
succeed, I conducted four different sound tests
- two with my Blackberry and two with a Motorola
V3, and with each test being respectively with
another person using a landline phone and/or
another cellphone (on the same network).
The results were sadly consistent and
conclusive. The sound was just plain bad.
The other person each time commented about echo
on the line, and another said I sounded quieter
using the headset. Both also felt the
sound quality was poorer.
The sound quality of the person at the other end
of the call was also noticeably worse for me,
with more background noise and static.
This poor showing, in our opinion, disqualifies
the unit from consideration. |
Capabilities |
Turning on
and off |
Turning on
and off is bothersome - why can't they simply
have an on/off button on the unit? There's
plenty of space to add one.
To turn it
on you have to hold the main button down long
enough until the unit flashes rapidly three or
so times. Don't hold it down any more or
else it will switch into pairing mode.
To turn the
unit off, you again have to hold the main button
down long enough (not too long and not too
short) until the unit flashes rapidly three or
so times. |
Auto connect |
Yes. |
Voice tag
support |
Supported.
Make a short press of the main command button,
then say the name you've previously
recorded. |
Last number
redial |
Yes.
Make a long press on the main command button. |
Transfer
call to/from phone |
To transfer
a call to the headset, simply turn the headset
on.
If the
headset is already on, then a short press of the
button on the headset, same as if you were
answering a call, will transfer it.
Turning the
unit off will transfer a call back to the phone.
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Call
waiting/Three way calling |
A long press
on the button will place your first call on hold
and answer the incoming second call.
Further
normal duration
presses swap between the two calls.
To join
both callers to make a three way call, press
both volume buttons simultaneously. |
Call reject |
A long press
of the button rejects a call. |
Call
answer/end |
Yes.
Generally you will have your headset off rather
than on. So, to answer a call, simply turn
it on.
If the
unit is already on, a short press of the button
will answer an incoming call.
To end a call, a short press of the button is
again needed. |
Mute |
Pressing
both volume buttons simultaneously switches mute
on or off.
You can also place calls on hold by pressing the
main button and waiting until hearing a beep -
similar to switching between two calls.
Repeating this takes the call off hold. |
Subjective |
Attractive
design |
Yes - it
mimics some elements of the V3 Razr design
(hence its name).
It is available either in silver or black. |
Flashing
indicators on standby |
Yes. |
Size |
Average/normal. |
Summary |
This is a fully featured
unit at a good price that is easy to operate and
has a good battery life, but which suffers from
poor sound quality, and so for that reason, is
not recommended. |
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Using the Motorola HS850 Headset
The Motorola H3 is another
easy headset to use. Switch it on, it automatically
connects to any paired phone in range, and starts handling calls
for you.
We particularly liked that
it uses the same USB connector for charging as do many other
phones and portable devices, saving you the need to surround
yourself at home, work, and in the car with yet another charging
device.
But, alas, in among all the
nice things of this headset is one fatal flaw. Poor sound
quality. With so many inexpensive Bluetooth headsets to
choose from these days, many of which offer excellent sound
quality, there's no reason and no sense in choosing a headset
that only gives poor sound quality.
Connecting with phones
The unit paired effortlessly
to both a Motorola Razr V3 and a Blackberry 8700, with the
latter often being a somewhat difficult phone to pair with.
It is easy to pair the unit
with phones, and easy for it to connect once paired.
Summary
Poor sound quality makes
this unit a bad buy and is not recommended accordingly.
It is inexpensive, being street-priced at slightly
more than $30 (eg at
Amazon )
but even if the units were being given away, they would not be a
good choice due to their poor performance.
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Originally published
17 Aug 2007, last update
21 Jul 2020
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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